About the Plan

For years, workers across the province have seen their incomes be eroded by the skyrocketing cost of housing in BC. The lack of regulation and improper taxation of real estate in BC has made the province's housing market a playground for speculators and big banks hoping to make profits at the expense of workers.

By the Summer of 2017, BCGEU members had had enough and passed multiple resolutions at that year's convention to call on the union to do something about housing affordability. That is how the Affordable BC campaign was born.

Since then, the BCGEU has been working with members, local governments and the province to build communities where working class families can afford to live and thrive. The backbone of the campaign is focused on what the provincial government can do to solve the housing crisis, but we have also prepared recommendations that local governments can implement on their own.

Click on the images below to learn more about the provincial and municipal plans we are proposing:

I’m interested in what your organization is doing, but two points give me cause for concern. One has to do with your reticence towards a ban on foreign buyers. This can be forgiven if this site hasn’t been updated in quite some time, but in the last year it’s been quite solidly established that – while the causes are complex – foreign money is indeed the chief driver of unaffordability. (You also mention their contribution to the economy – unless you’re a luxury goods dealer, it’s not that much)

Two, it seems you’re prioritizing the investments of the thousands of British Columbians who’ve overstretched themselves to afford a mortgage over those who have been completely priced out of the region (a far greater injury to the community). The bottom line is this: we need to bring housing down to a level that is commensurate to the earning power of the average British Columbian earner – or we risk losing the middle class altogether. This would have to be a reversal equal in magnitude to the rise in price over the last few years…if you’d call that a crash, I can’t say I’m on your side.

If this doesn’t happen, it’s not because we couldn’t have done anything about it, but rather that we’d chosen not to. If I’m wrong about your organization’s stance on either of these issues, I’d be happy to stand corrected.

It seems to me that the deeper underlying cause is allowing land to be a commodity on the “free” market. The demand exceeds the supply so the price continues to escalate. How about taking the radical step (which has been applied elsewhere) of taking land out of the speculation frenzy and only permitting long term leases? The government can exercise “Eminent Domain”. Somebody please explain to me why that wouldn’t solve the problem.

Shame on you !You know that won’t fix anything Seniors are dying as a result.Shame on you for disrespecting your elderly population!Shame on you for trying to pull the wool over people eyes .This has been going on for over a decade seniors are starving and some are freezing to death.Shame on you call it what it is.SENIORSDYING.SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!